2023-11-10 10:34:01 ¶ ●

I like to think of Will’s imagination as a magician’s hat. No one knows what he will pull out next, including himself. He fears what he ‘might’ be capable of.

Will can conjure up rationales from looking at the evidence at crime scenes, and these ideas are his in the way that he is capable of thinking them. He is capable of thinking that a musician’s neck and torso can be splayed apart to build an instrument — so that he can create a novel sound. “Had to open you up to get a decent sound out of you.” This is not an idea that people’s minds typically flirt with.

Yes he is interpreting from the images and facts available to him. But the fact remains that his mind can even *go* there. I think this is what Will is scared of — he doesn’t know where his mind will go next.

Still, Will is the one holding the hat. He is in control of himself and he prides himself in knowing what is “him” and what is “other”. So when he were sleep-walking, hallucinating, losing time, he doesn’t *know* what his mind’s doing while he’s unaware. He is driven crazy with fear, which only makes him more susceptible to Hannibal’s manipulations. Hannibal reiterates that Will doesn’t know who he is. Will is not sure if he’s still holding the hat, or has the hat toppled down and something monstrous creeped out?

I really like this tug of war inside his mind, portrayed by palpable music that makes one feel lonely. His rage when he finds out what Hannibal did to him is heartbreaking and righteous. Hannibal broke down a man, pulled meat from bone and said “I was curious to see what you would do.” He’s really such a bastard.